Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: Blood

Mr. Drew:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons people with myalgic encephalomyelitis may not donate blood. [321320]

Ann Keen:
People with myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), are not able to donate blood until they have fully recovered. The reasons for this are: first, blood donors need to be in good health, and people with ME/CFS often experience a range of symptoms which could be made worse by donating blood; and second, as the causes of ME/CFS are not currently fully understood, people with the condition are deferred from donating blood as a precautionary measure to protect the safety of the blood supply for patients.

Dental Services

Mr. Lansley:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Eddisbury (Mr. O'Brien) of 25 February 2010, Official Report, column 744W, on departmental statistics, if he will place in the Library a copy of the most recent NHS dental services vital signs report. [320789]

Ann Keen:
The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Departmental ICT

Mr. Philip Hammond:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what information technology projects initiated by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies were cancelled prior to completion in the last 12 months; and what the cost of each such project was to the public purse. [320425]

Phil Hope:
The Department and its Executive agency, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency have not cancelled any information technology projects prior to completion in the last 12 months.

Health Services: Reciprocal Arrangements

Andrew Mackinlay:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reasons no response has yet been sent to (a) the letter from the Department of Health and Social Security of the Isle of Man Government of 7 September 2009 on the negotiation of separate bilateral health agreements between the Isle of Man and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and (b) the requests for a response sent on 15 October and 4 November 2009 and subsequently; when he plans to make a substantive response to the letter; if he will place in the Library a copy of his eventual response; and if he will make a statement. [321495]

Gillian Merron:
The development of any agreement between the Isle of Man Government and the devolved governments would at this stage be a matter for their respective governments. The Department made the Isle of Man Government aware of that position on 9 March 2010.

10 Mar 2010 : Column 351W

Hearing Impaired: Health Services

Dr. Tony Wright:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to maintain the present (a) level of funding for audiology training courses and (b) number of trained paediatric audiologists. [321346]

Ann Keen:
The level of funding allocated for audiology training courses is a matter for individual strategic health authorities. Working with stakeholders, we are developing a range of education and training programmes which will have a focus on audiology as part of modernising scientific careers. These will encompass the needs of both adult and paediatric services.

Hepatitis: Prisoners

Anne Milton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what his estimate is of the number of people in prison who have (a) HIV, (b) hepatitis B and (c) hepatitis C. [321148]

Phil Hope:
The Health Protection Agency is responsible for gathering information on the incidence and prevalence of blood-borne viruses (BBVs) in the population. Current surveillance systems cannot routinely differentiate infections detected among prisoners from those identified among people in the community.

The Department estimates the burden of infection with BBVs among the adult prison population in England and Wales to be the following:

Number

HIV

163 (146-179)

Hepatitis B

1,327 (1,194-1,459)

Hepatitis C

4,083 (3,674-4,491)

Note:
Calculated using adult sentenced prison population-21 and over of 59,350 on 30 June 2009, prevalence of heroin and cocaine use, the percentage of these who ever injected and estimate of prevalence from Unlinked Anonymous Prevalence Monitoring Programme's study of injecting drug users, and giving +/- 10 per cent. range.

Mental Health Services: Advocacy

Lynne Jones:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health by what mechanisms his Department monitors compliance by primary care trusts with the duty to make available independent mental health advocate services for qualifying patients; and what recent discussions he has had with the Care Quality Commission on compliance with that duty. [321342]

Phil Hope:
Strategic health authorities are responsible for the performance management of primary care trusts. We understand the Care Quality Commission is currently collecting information on the availability of independent mental health advocates when visiting hospitals which detain patients under the Mental Health Act.

Midwives: Training

Dr. Richard Taylor:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the likely effects of plans for future numbers of university places on the numbers of midwives in training; and if he will make a statement. [321086]

10 Mar 2010 : Column 352W

Ann Keen:
The Secretary of State for Health has not had a discussion with the Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills on this topic.

Strategic health authorities (SHAs) are responsible as regional education commissioners for delivering the number of undergraduate nursing and midwifery places commissioned each year. The numbers are based on the long term workforce requirements of their service providers.

More midwives are being trained than ever before and the latest figures show there has been a 38 per cent. increase in the number of students entering training to become a midwife since 1996-97.

SHAs are on track to meet the Government's commitment to have in place 4,000 extra midwives by 2012 subject to the birth rate.

Myelodysplastic Syndromes

Nick Harvey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients have been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes since 1997. [321378]

Angela E. Smith:
I have been asked to reply.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated March 2010:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many patients have been diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes since 1997. [321378]

The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of myelodysplastic syndromes (incidence) are for the year 2007. Please note that the number of cases may not be the same as the number of people diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes, because one person may be diagnosed with more than one incidence of myelodysplastic syndromes.

Table 1 provides the numbers of newly diagnosed cases of myelodysplastic syndromes in England, for each year from 1997 to 2007.

(1 )Myelodysplastic syndromes is coded as D46 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).(2) Newly diagnosed cases registered in each calendar year.

Nick Harvey:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health what treatments are available on the NHS for patients diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndromes. [321381]

Ann Keen:
The 2003 "Improving Outcomes in Haematological Cancers" guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence sets out 10 Mar 2010 : Column 353W
recommendations about the care and treatment of patients with myelodysplastic syndromes, with the emphasis on symptom control and supportive treatment.

It is for the national health service locally to implement this guidance. Good progress has been made and the National Cancer Action Team continue to work with the NHS at a local level to ensure full implementation.

National Treatment Agency: Public Relations

Mr. Maude:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much the National Treatment Agency has spent on external public relations in each of the last three years; what payments have been made; and for what purposes. [320713]

Gillian Merron:
The National Treatment Agency for Substance Misuse's spend on external public relation agencies in each of the last three years is given in the following table:

External public relations spend (£)

2006-07

0

2007-08

41,502

2008-09

0

The payments and purposes of the 2007-08 external public relations spend are as follows:

Company

Purpose

Payment (£)

SB Communications

Communications support

17,500

Chappie Ltd.

Consultancy

3,290

Fishburn Hedges

Communications support

8,674

DHA Communications

Communications support

12,038

Northampton Hospital: Waiting Lists

Ms Keeble:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people were on the waiting list for treatment at Northampton general hospital in (a) 1997 and (b) the latest year for which figures are available. [321267]

Phil Hope:
In-patient waiting list figures for Northampton general hospital NHS trust are shown in the following table.

Period

Total patients waiting for admission

March 1997

5,796

March 2009

3,516

January 2010

3,779

Source:
Department of Health KH07 and MMR returns from national health service trusts

Streptococcus: Babies

Anne Milton:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what steps are being taken by his Department to increase levels of compliance with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists' guidelines on preventing group B streptococcal infection in newborn babies; [321081]

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(2) what guidelines his Department provides on preventing group B streptococcal infection in newborn babies. [321082]

Ann Keen:
Current guidance for obstetricians, midwives and neonatologists is provided by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, (RCOG) which published its Green-top guideline No. 36 on the prevention of early-onset neonatal group B streptococcus disease in November 2003. In 2005, the RCOG, in collaboration with the National Screening Committee, established a national audit to evaluate practice in United Kingdom obstetric units against the recommendations of the guideline. The audit published in January 2007, reported that current practice followed the established patterns of care described in the RCOG guideline.

The Department supports the Maternity Standards published by the RCOG in 2008, which state that maternity services should comply with evidence-based guidelines for the provision of high-quality clinical care.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence clinical guidelines for routine antenatal care, published in 2008, recommends that pregnant women should not be offered routine antenatal screening for group B streptococcus because evidence of its clinical and cost effectiveness remains uncertain.

Information for women on Group B streptococcus is contained in "the Pregnancy book"-a guide to health pregnancy, labour and giving birth, and life with your new baby, which is given to all pregnant women during their antenatal care. A copy has already been placed in the Library. Information is also available on NHS Direct and NHS Choices website. Women who are concerned are advised to talk to their doctor or midwife.

Home Department

British Nationality

Chris Grayling:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people of each nationality were granted UK citizenship (a) between 1980 and 1987 and (b) between 1988 and 1997; and how many have been granted UK citizenship since 1997. [317831]

Alan Johnson:
The available data for 1977 to 2008 are given in the following table. Data for 2009 are scheduled for publication in May 2010.

Statistics on persons granted British citizenship by previous nationality, type and category of grant are published in table 4 of the Home Office Statistical Bulletin "British Citizenship Statistics United Kingdom, 2008". This publication may be obtained from the Library of the House and from the Home Office Research, Development and Statistics website at: